SEC Basketball Recap: conference play begins with a bang
Happy Sunday, BBN–what a week it has been. While the ‘Cats were cruising in Rupp, other SEC teams began their conference journeys as well. Here are some of the highlights from the last several days:
No. 16 LSU at No. 11 Auburn
The Auburn Tigers started up conference play with a bang after easily handling No. 16 LSU 70-55 on Wednesday night–and they couldn’t have done it without big man Walker Kessler.
Kessler was a problem for the boys from Baton Rouge, to say the least. He blocked LSU’s first three shots before they were finally able to make a basket, helping Auburn to an 18-0 run to begin the game. Kessler ended with 16 points, a career-high 11 blocks and 10 rebounds as he and his team handed LSU their first loss of the season.
Kessler’s triple-double was only the second in Auburn’s program history and it happened in dramatic fashion. Auburn’s scorekeeper changed an initially called team rebound to an individual one for Kessler more than an hour after the game, giving him the final piece. Freshman Jabari Smith also scored 16 for Auburn.
LSU fought back valiantly, but could never come within five points in the second half. Xavier Pinson led with 13 points. Tari Eason and Darius Days each added 11 of their own. The (gold and purple) Tigers shot just 28.6% from the field and 20.7% from the 3-point line. They will face the ‘Cats at home on Tuesday.
No. 14 Tennessee at No. 19 Alabama
Alabama continues to add to its already-impressive resume. After toppling then third-ranked Gonzaga in Seattle and then No. 14 Houston, the Crimson Tide quickly racked up two top-15 wins early in the season. Now, they can add another to the list after beating No. 14 Tennessee 73-68 on Wednesday night.
Noah Gurley came off the bench and led Alabama with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double effort. Jahvon Quinerly and Jaden Shackelford added 18 and 12, respectively. Though Shackelford hasn’t been putting up as big of numbers as he did last season, he is hitting some big buckets for the Tide when they’re needed. He hit a huge 3-pointer to tie the game with two minutes to play in this one, despite ending just 2-10 overall.
Tennessee shot 34.9% from the field in the game, but only 29% in the second half when they needed some big buckets. Olivier Nkamhoua led the Vols with 15 points and nine rebounds. Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Zeigler added 13 and 11, respectively. The Vols played without guard Kennedy Chandler and forward John Fulkerson in the match–two of their best players. Both tested positive for COVID-19 and were unable to make the trip to Tuscaloosa.
It hasn’t been all rainbows for ‘Bama, of course. Shortly after beating Gonzaga and Houston, the Tide fell to a bad Memphis team and then to Davidson. Head coach Nate Oats cites a lack of leadership for the lapses in effort, which the Tide looked to have found on Wednesday against the Vols.
Arkansas at Mississippi State
Mississippi State started their SEC season off with a win as well. The Bulldogs defeated a short-handed Arkansas team 81-68 at home, moving both teams to 10-3 on the season.
Tolu Smith led Mississippi State with 18 points and a career-best five steals. Shakeel Moore added 15 points and four steals of his own, as the Bulldog defense suffocated Arkansas. Moore was 3-4 on his 3-point attempts, but the team as a whole was just 5-17. Iverson Molinar put up 16 points, 12 of them coming in the second half.
Arkansas senior and leading scorer JD Notae and freshman Chance Moore sat this one out due to illness. Notae is averaging 18 points per game this season after being named the SEC’s sixth man of the year last season. Kamani Johnson, the little brother of former Wildcat Dakari Johnson, was suspended from the program indefinitely earlier this week. Johnson was arrested in June of last year for disorderly conduct after an altercation in Fayetteville.
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Gardner-Webb at Georgia
Though not a conference game, I just want to once again point out that Georgia is bad–like really bad. On Wednesday, they dropped their eighth game of the season in a 77-60 loss at home to Gardner-Webb (a small South Carolina school, for those who were about to Google it).
Gardner-Webb, also known as the Bulldogs, came ready to play. Three of their players–Jordan Sears, Lance Terry and Zion Williams–all scored 14 points as their team recorded its first-ever win over UGA. Kareem Reid added 11 points of his own and the Runnin’ Bulldogs snagged their first road win of the season. They had six players score nine or more points, as opposed to Georgia’s three.
Georgia managed a 9-0 run to pull the game within seven points early in the second half, but went ice cold from there and trailed by double figures for the remainder of the game. Braelen Bridges led the team with 17 points and seven rebounds. Georgia shot just 15.8% (3-19) from the 3-point line.
At least they have football, I guess?
Missouri at No. 18 Kentucky
The ‘Cats are hot folks, and just in time for conference play. They started their SEC journey off with a dominant 83-56 win over Missouri in Rupp Arena on Wednesday night, moving them to 10-2 on the season.
This was a good team win. Keion Brooks Jr. led the ‘Cats with 17 points and nine rebounds. Oscar Tshiebwe had what some might call a “down” night for the big man, though he still ended with 13 points and 20 rebounds. TyTy Washington and Savhir Wheeler added 14 and 11 of their own, respectively.
Most of Missouri’s offensive success came from their bench. Amari Davis and Jarron Coleman led with 10 points each. No other Tigers scored in double-digits. Missouri shot just 32.8% from the field and a flat 20% of their 3-point attempts.
The ‘Cats led by 11 early in the match, but Mizzou stormed back to take a one-point lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half. Kentucky responded nicely, though, and would never lose the lead again. The Tigers were playing without head coach Cuonzo Martin, who missed the game due to a positive COVID-19 test.
For more in-depth coverage on the ‘Cats SEC debut, check out Tyler’s number crunching and Jack’s quick takeaways.
After another dominant win over High Point on Friday afternoon, Kentucky will next travel to Baton Rouge to face the No. 16 LSU Tigers who, as you might have (just) read, are coming off a bad loss to Auburn.
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